In the Interests of Unity Between us Brits and You Yanks...

by creativhoney 221 Replies latest jw friends

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  beksbks

  The metal was named by the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (who, you may recall, “abominated gravy, and lived in the odium of having discovered sodium”), even though he was unable to isolate it: that took another two decades’ work by others. He derived the name from the mineral called alumina, which itself had only been named in English by the chemist Joseph Black in 1790. Black took it from the French, who had based it on alum, a white mineral that had been used since ancient times for dyeing and tanning, among other things. Chemically, this is potassium aluminium sulphate (a name which gives me two further opportunities to parade my British spellings of chemical names).

  Sir Humphry made a bit of a mess of naming this new element, at first spelling it alumium (this was in 1807) then changing it to aluminum, and finally settling on aluminium in 1812. His classically educated scientific colleagues preferred aluminium right from the start, because it had more of a classical ring, and chimed harmoniously with many other elements whose names ended in –ium, like potassium, sodium, and magnesium, all of which had been named by Davy.

  http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm
• 

  creativhoney

  Erm @ Zombie dub. - British English or American English? this offends me lol. how about English English? - This is always the correct form of English by default. anything else is a deviation.

  newborn is one word like teacup or matchstick or doorbell

  and again @ satocon - the earth or ground isnt there in british prongs anymore. - theres nothing in the wall sockets and no wires connected to them. i can stick my finger in or a screwdriver, i can stick a two pronged plug in there, - I know what earthed means but not in our plugs anymore, can someone back me up here?

  and further afield as in what?
• 

  undercover

  Do Brits say "aloof"?

  They do say "poof"... (slang)
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  mrsjones5

  "one thing that drives me mad is, we say (correctly) "I couldn't care less" if we could not care less about something. Americans say "I could care less" when they could not care less about something. Just is completely grammatically wrong and makes no sense! Why is this?"

  Hm, maybe this would help:

  "I could care less" vs. "I couldn't care less"

  The Question Ends Here

  ---

  When one usually states "I could care less", they usually mean "I could not care less". [e.g. "I could care less about linguistics."]

  In order for one to "care less" about a subject, they must first care about it somewhat. Saying "I could care less about ... " does indeed imply, nay dictate, that there is some degree of care.

  I've put together a handy chart to help visualize...

  

  It can easily be seen that, in absolute terms, there is no caring at the zero marker. It is impossible to care less than that amount.

  Let us use a different example...

  1. I could have less food.
  2. I couldn't have less food.

  Which statement above means "I have at least some food", and which means "I don't have any food"?

  http://incompetech.com/gallimaufry/care_less.html
• 

  llbh

  Pants to us are panties!!

  David
• 

  beksbks

  Americans say "I could care less" when they could not care less about something. Just is completely grammatically wrong and makes no sense! Why is this?

  Not all Americans. This one drives me crazy too. As does spelling "loose" when meaning "lose".

  Probably Southerners
• 

  greenie

  Ohhhhhhhhhh, and how could I forget my favorite: SNOG! What a L-O-V-E-L-Y word for a kiss!

  I had a Brit counsel me on this once: how she spoke the Queen's English and I just spoke a derivative (pointed out snidely I should say). Then she preceded to talk to her other friends about "snogging" someone, and I couldn't resist asking her: "Really? So does the Queen say snog? Oh no? Well I suppose you must speak a derivative, too!"
• 

  creativhoney

  in terms of factoring an equation - i could not have less food can be factored out as i could have more food ...

  i could not care less means i could care more
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  undercover

  Yes, technically it should be "I couldn't care less"

  But I've always noted a hint of sarcasm from those who say, "I could care less" as if to say, "I don't give a shit, but I could give even less of a shit if that were possible, so STFU about it already."
• 

  zombie dub

  mrsjones - that's exactly the point, that chart shows that saying "i could care less" means " i DO care somewhat", but people in the US say "i COULD care less" meaning "i do NOT care at all in any way" - this is plain wrong!!! In the UK we say "i could NOT care less" which makes perfect sense, ahhh!!!